The Mobile phone has become the “magic wand” for millions of users

A look at the portable game system, the portable video player, and the new remote control, and how they will impact mobile marketing.

We know mobile is the bridge between the physical and digital world – through mobile commerce, augmented reality, visual search, and the many location-based services popping up everywhere. It brings the digital world to us no matter where we are in the real world. What’s amazing is the speed at which the mobile device has also become a true functional tool in our daily lives. It has become the “magic wand” for a variety of daily functions for millions of users, and even more exciting to marketers is the fact that each of these areas present significant opportunities to reach users with a deeper marketing experience.

The Portable Game System

Mobile gaming has been a popular concept since the late 1980s when Nintendo released the Game Boy, but it has generally been the domain of serious gamers until recently. The increase in mainstream interest in gaming, combined with the ability to play games on smartphones and tablets has begun an explosion in mobile gaming.

Last year, Angry Birds broke into the mainstream and saw over 50 million downloads across mobile platforms. This represented one of the first huge casual gaming successes in the mobile market, and few of us have been able to deny the addictive simplicity of Cut the Rope, Hungry Shark, and a variety of other casual games.

Social game developer Zynga released FarmVille Mobile, allowing players to take their virtual farming obsession on the go. Given the skyrocketing popularity of social games, the combination of this style of game play with the ability to play on mobile devices will likely accelerate the growth of both genres.

How will this impact mobile marketing?

Overall, mobile gaming revenue is expected to rise from $5.4 billion in 2008 to over $10 billion in 2013. Also, 33.6 percent of mobile users say they have played a game in the last month and 50 percent of those say the amount of time they spend playing has increased in the last year. Additionally, the user demographics are more desirable from a marketing perspective than traditional gaming – the average age of mobile gamers is 28, with 53 percent being female as compared to an audience that significantly skews male, with an average age of 34 for traditional gaming.